Top Honduran government officials visit Georgia as part of Delta Air Lines’ inaugural flight to San Pedro Sula

ATLANTA, February 28, 2006 – The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD), Hemisphere, Inc. and Delta Air Lines will welcome His Excellency Roberto Micheletti, President of the Honduran National Congress; the Honorable Milton Jiménez Puerto, Minister of Foreign Affairs; and the Honorable José Rosario Bonano, Minister Public Works and Transportation to Atlanta on Wednesday, March 1. H.E. Micheletti and the Ministers will participate in Delta's inaugural flight to San Pedro Sula, scheduled to depart at 6:30 p.m. on March 1.

Delta is the first airline carrier in Atlanta to offer nonstop service to Honduras. To boost this new connection between Georgia and Honduras, an executive business conference held in San Pedro Sula on March 2 will explore new market access opportunities that will emerge once the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) has been implemented.

'Georgia is continuing to strengthen its business ties with Latin America,' said GDEcD Commissioner Craig Lesser. 'Delta's nonstop service to San Pedro Sula demonstrates the importance of Central America as a place to do business when CAFTA is implemented.'

While in Atlanta, Honduran government officials will meet with Lesser and local business leaders, and will visit the King Center at 10:15 a.m. on Wednesday to lay a wreath at the tomb of Martin Luther King, Jr.

In addition to hosting the Honduran delegation visiting Atlanta, Commissioner Lesser will also lead a delegation of Georgia economic development and business executives to Honduras for meetings with government officials and business leaders March 1 – 3, 2006 as part of Delta's inaugural flight.

The trip will explore new opportunities for increasing trade, investment and tourism. Georgia business delegates include Delta Air Lines Director for Latin America and the Caribbean James Sarvis, Russell Corporation Vice President of Investor Relations Roger Holliday, Seydel President

David Greene, Softee Supreme Diaper Corporation President Gael Coakley and Hispanic American Center for Economic Development Executive Director Luis Izaguirre.

Honduras is a fast-growing export market for Georgia, whose exports to the country totaled over $164 million in 2005, a 7.3 percent increase from 2004. Additionally, in the U.S., Georgia ranks fifth among U.S. states exporting to Honduras. Top exports to Honduras include textiles and fabrics; apparel and accessories; paper; non-electrical machinery; and food and kindred products.

'This trip will remind our Central American neighbor of the vast resources and vibrant business structure Georgia has to offer, which will help to facilitate new trade and investment opportunities once CAFTA is implemented,' said José Ignacio González, executive director of Hemisphere, Inc.

As part of Delta's inaugural flight, a ceremony organized by Delta Air Lines will be held at departure Gate # E-12 at 5:45 p.m. at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

'As part of our transformation plan, Delta continues to expand services to where our customers want to fly, whether for business or pleasure,' said James Sarvis, director for Delta Air Lines' Latin America and Caribbean region. 'We are thrilled to open this new bridge between our two nations.'

Georgia's outreach to Honduras, boosted by Delta's inaugural flight, supports the state's effort to raise awareness of Georgia's position as the primary gateway to access the U.S. domestic market, and as a possible home of the Secretariat of the Free Trade Area of the Americas, an initiative directed by Hemisphere, Inc., and chaired by Governor Sonny Perdue.

The CAFTA region is the second-largest export market in Latin America and the tenth largest market in the world for U.S. exports. The U.S. exports more to this region than it exports to India, Russia and Indonesia combined. Last year, U.S. exports to the region surpassed $15 billion, and nearly half of the region's imports are from the United States. CAFTA provides substantial new market access for U.S. companies. More than eighty percent of U.S. exports of industrial, consumer, and agricultural products to Central America will become duty-free immediately upon the agreement's implementation, expected to take place within the next 30 days, and with remaining tariffs phased out over 10 years.

Hemisphere, Inc. is a public-private partnership spearheading Georgia's efforts to position the state as the premier gateway for trade and investment between the countries of the Western Hemisphere. The organization is also leading the effort to win the Secretariat of the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas for Georgia. The organization is chaired by Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue and directed by a Board including Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, Georgia Department of Economic Development Commissioner Craig Lesser and Former Equifax Chairman and CEO Thomas F. Chapman. For more information, visit www.atlantagateway.org.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development (GDEcD) is the state's sales and marketing arm, the lead agency for attracting new business investment, encouraging the expansion of existing industry and small businesses, locating new markets for Georgia products, attracting tourists to Georgia, and promoting the state as a location for film, video and music projects, as well as planning and mobilizing state resources for economic development. For more information, visit www.georgia.org.